County police dept.'s DUI expert arrested for DUI

A Glynn County Police officer who is recognized statewide as an expert on impaired driving was arrested Monday for DUI, according to Sgt. 1st Class Chad Gray, commander of Georgia State Patrol’s Brunswick Post.

Glynn County police officer Kevin Yarborough was arrested by a state patrol trooper following a traffic stop on Cate Road at 4:42 p.m., during which he allegedly twice swerved out of the vehicle’s lane of traffic, Gray said. Yarborough, 38, was booked into the Glynn County Detention Center at 5:03 p.m., charged with DUI/driver less safe and failure to maintain a lane, according to jail records.

Yarborough was recognized as the 2016 State of Georgia Drug Recognition Expert of the Year by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and MADD Georgia. He is one of three members of the county police department’s HEAT (Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic) team, and is considered an expert on detecting drivers under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Yarborough was released later Monday on a total of $1,690 bond, jail records show.

State troopers say Yarborough was driving a 2015 Dodge Charger north on Golden Isles Parkway when the vehicle allegedly breached the turn lane’s white line while he was preparing to make a left turn onto Cate Road, according to the arrest report of state patrol trooper K. McCrary. Yarborough then allegedly crossed the double yellow line on Cate Road during the turn, after which McCrary stopped him, the report said.

McCrary said he detected the smell of alcohol by the time he approached the rear of Yarborough’s vehicle, the report said.

When Yarborough stepped out of the vehicle at McCrary’s direction, the trooper again smelled alcohol, according to the report. “As I spoke with the driver outside the vehicle, I could smell the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the driver’s breath,” McCrary wrote in the report.

Yarborough allegedly showed signs of intoxication during several roadside sobriety tests, including those testing eye movement, standing and balance, the report said. Yarborough allegedly registered .116 in a blood/alcohol breath test at the scene, the report said. The legal limit in Georgia is .08.

“I asked the driver how much he had to drink and he stated that he took a shot of pineapple vodka before he left his house,” McCrary wrote in the report.

Yarborough later submitted to have blood drawn for a test of alcohol content, results of which are not yet complete.

The Glynn County Police Department has started an internal investigation of Yarborough’s arrest, said Brian Scott, department chief of staff. Yarborough has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of that investigation, he said.

Glynn County Police Chief John Powell said the department’s officers are expected to obey the laws they are entrusted to enforce.

“I commend the Georgia State Patrol for their efforts in combatting drunk driving in our community,” Powell said. “If officer Yarborough was indeed driving under the influence, he will be dealt with accordingly.”

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